1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to supports for hoists for handling invalids and the disabled, and in particular to supports for so-called hydrotherapy hoists or pool lifts and the resultant hoist/support combinations. Such hoists are used to lift patients into and out of a hydrotherapy pool for treatment therein, and they are commonly also used to provide pool access for physically handicapped swimmers.
The invention is more particularly, but not exclusively, concerned with hoists which comprise an upstanding lifting column at the side of which there is supported a patient support member, of seat or stretcher form, with the column in use being mounted adjacent the edge of the pool. In addition to raising and lowering movement under the control of a lifting mechanism within or associated with the column, the patient support member of such a hoist can be swung around from a loading position at the side of a pool to a position above the pool for lowering into the latter.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hoists (of the foregoing character) are often used in public swimming baths, when it is usually a requirement that they are readily removable when not in use and that any hoist support structure which is used should either be removable or provide negligible obstruction when the hoist itself is removed and stored out of the way. The support for such a hoist is normally provided by a floor mounting plate or socket fixed to or into the pool decking some distance from the edge of the pool. In order to provide firm fixings the mounting cannot be close to the edge and thus often presents a considerable obstruction at the side of the pool, and the necessary spacing from the edge necessitates a corresponding long support arm for the patient support member. This results in high cantilever loading when a patient is supported over the pool and this further accentuates the fixing problems.
It has been proposed that the column should be mounted within the pool at the side thereof, but these proposals have necessitated a heavy and strongly braced support frame structure with firm fixings to the decking and/or a support structure which rests on the decking and the floor of the pool so that it has to be dimensioned to suit the pool concerned and the mounting position.